Friday, June 9, 2017

Ireland v USA, and more good matches than you can shake a stick at!

 
 Jacob Stockdale

Ireland get their summer tour going with a match against the USA Eagles at the Red Bull Arena, Newark, on Saturday. It's a strong looking team, testament to the depth of talent in Ireland right now. The presence of Quinn Roux and James Ryan shows we still need to work on our depth in some positions. The players I'm excited to watch are Jacob Stockdale and Tiernan O'Halloran, both of whom put in regular top class performances in teams that aren't really setting the world alight. I would say we'll start the tour with a good win.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the Lions will want ot get their stuttering tour back on track. The Lions have no lack of beefy ball carriers, but that seems to be plan A, B and C. It's time to give the likes of Jonathan Joseph, Stuart Hogg, and Jonathan Davies more of a free hand to work their magic. It's a full Crusaders side, the form team in Super Rugby, but I kind of fancy the Lions all the same.

Elsewhere there is South Africa v France, Argentina v England...the list goes on and on. Enjoy!

Ireland: 15 Tiernan O'Halloran, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Rhys Ruddock (c), 5 Devin Toner, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 James Ryan, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Simon Zebo


Saturday 10th June

Australia 06:00 Fiji
Japan 06:40 Romania
Italy 13:00 Scotland
South Africa 16:00 France
Argentina 20:15 England
Canada 22:00 Georgia
USA 22:00 Ireland

Crusaders 08:35 British and Irish Lions

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